Think ✨deep clean✨but for your phone.
If you’ve never seen The Purge, it’s a movie about a day where any and all crime is legal for 12 hours. The people believe that this time period allows them to “cleanse” their souls. And then afterwards, everything goes back to normal.
In place of that, this type of purge gives us a chance to cleanse our phones. It consists of decluttering, organizing and making your phone work best for you. And in turn, gives you a peace of mind.
Our devices are prone to clutter because we are constantly using them. They accumulate emails, pictures, internet tabs, and anything else you can think of.
When we don’t take the time to be intentional about our phones and the way we use them, we risk not being able to find something when you need to and getting that annoying pop up that we’re low on storage.
So let’s get your phone cleaned up! Here are 7 areas you should tackle when doing a phone purge.
1. PROMO
Unsubscribe, then delete all irrelevant emails and texts. If it’s a brand you really love, my advice is to update your preferences to receive fewer emails. For texts, reply STOP and you won’t get notified anymore.
Not only will this free up space, it will save you money, too! The less you know about any sales or coupons, the least likely you’ll be tempted to spend.
While you’re at it, delete any other emails (unimportant, unread) and texts (old group chats from a school or work project) that you no longer need.
2. APPS
It’s easy to forget about all of the apps we have on our phones. Especially since we’re able to remove them from the home screen.
Thankfully, Apple devices give us breakdowns of our apps. You can find out how much space they’re using and the last time you opened it by going to settings, then general, then iPhone storage. If you haven’t opened it in the last month, it needs to go. Only keep things on your phone that you actually use. Otherwise, it just creates more clutter.
Put like items in a folder. For example, all of your food apps can go together. Same applies to places you shop, the main apps you use daily, health and fitness, etc.
3. CONTACTS
Get rid of contacts that you haven’t used in the last 6 months or year. Your old beautician, classmate, or coworker can be deleted since we usually stay in touch with these people through social media. This is also a good time to remove people you’ve outgrown.
4. NOTIFICATIONS
One of the most freeing things you can do is turn off (or cut back) notifications.
Give yourself a chance to miss the action. Keep the most important notifications on like messages or anything you need to be updated on regularly and turn everything else off.
Try to make a habit of checking your email (every few hours) and socials (once a day or week) to eliminate the need of being alerted every there’s something going on. This gives you the freedom to be in the know when you want.
Notifications can also tailored to your liking through your phone’s settings (how you get notified) and each individual app’s settings (what you get notified about).
5. SOCIAL MEDIA
Don’t skip this. Social media is such a huge energy exchange and although it’s not a basic component of our phones, we spend a good amount of time on there so it’s worth addressing.
Go through your friends and following lists. Unfriend, unfollow, mute, or block whoever you need to. No one is exempt.
If the people on your timeline are not encouraging you, making you laugh, or inspiring you, they need to go. Don’t expose yourself to negativity. Your time online should be enjoyable and when you log off, you should feel a little bit better than you did when you logged on.
6. REMINDERS AND NOTES
You probably have random notes and unorganized reminders. Most people don’t even use these apps because they don’t know how to get the most out of them.
Let me take you there. Organize your reminders in lists and move similar notes into folders. This way, you know exactly where to go when you’re looking for something.
Reminders– Use this app for items that can be marked off like a traditional to do list:
Groceries (eggs, butter, fruit)
Upcoming Expenses (birthday gift, gas fill up)
Errands (go to grocery store, get gas)
To watch (GOT, This is Us, Snowfall)
Notes– This app is great for things you need to reference:
Ideas
Mental Health
Doctor visits
Work Related
7. PICTURES, VIDEOS, AND MUSIC
This can be the most time consuming part of a phone purge, so I saved it for last.
Pictures and Videos
First, delete what no longer serves you. Memes, old screenshots, accidentals, and duplicates. (Anything you don’t have attachment to.) Don’t forget about the ones you don’t like. Yes, those too sis. You can always take more later.
By searching a specific month in a year, you’ll see all of the content from that month. You can also go through different media types like videos, live photos, screen recordings, etc.
To take it another level, after you’ve deleted all that you wish, mark your favorites (tap the heart). You can also create albums for specific events like a beach trip, holiday, or wedding for better organization.
Music
Start with the artist or song. Since these are already alphabetized, simply go through the list and delete what you don’t like anymore. Just like with social media, music has an influence on our moods and desires, so be mindful of what you expose yourself to.
Afterwards, create playlists. I have a classics (my all time favs), focus (studying or writing), and a bangers (for when I want to blast my speakers). Have fun with it.
I hope this post helps you create a more functional and organized phone. You can do phone purges however and how often you wish, but some areas may need to be visited more often than others. If you have any additional tips, feel free to leave them below.
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MEET THE AUTHOR
I’m a 24 year old who is passionate about personal growth, intentional living, and spreading light wherever, whenever.
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